New York Giants Hire Pat Shurmur as Head Coach

Pat Shurmur has signed a five year contract as the new head coach of the New York Giants. After suffering a blowout loss in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has affirmed rumours by moving on to become the Giants coach. Following a highly reputable second season with the Vikings—which lead to being named the NFL Assistant Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association—Shurmur will take over the team from Steve Spagnuolo, who stepped into the role upon the dismissal of Ben McAdoo in December.

Winning the position from a pool of six candidates, this will be Shurmur’s second time in the head coaching role, after a short stint with the Cleveland Browns from 2011-2012.

In a statement on Monday, Giants president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch praised Shurmur for his, “Outstanding track record in developing young players,” which will be instrumental in the rebuilding that will occur this off-season, as the Giants come out of their worst year yet.

Shurmur has a reputation for evolving quarterbacks, as evidenced in Nick Foles, who was victorious against Shurmur’s Vikings in last night’s conference championship, as well as Vikings free agents Sam Bradford (who has worked with Shurmur on three different occasions) and Case Keenum. Keenum stepped into the starter spot upon Bradford’s injury and finished his season with an 11-3 record, improving from 9-5. One of the Giants biggest questions of the coming season is that of their starting quarterback, and this hire was definitely masterminded with that question at hand.

David Gettleman, the Giants new general manager, had expressed a desire for a CEO-type head coach, and upon today’s announcement, praised Shurmur’s successes and readiness for another head coaching opportunity: “I know he will provide the type of leadership we need to take our team back to where it belongs.”